There were 14 in attendance. It is time to renew membership to the Transylvania County Beekeepers Association. $10 for an individual and $15 for a family. The membership will help secure speakers, cover the cost of future bee expos, grow the local association, etc. Currently we have around 20 paid members. If you would like to join the association, you may pay your dues at the next meeting, or mail a check payable to The Transylvania County Beekeepers Association PO Box 92 Brevard, NC 28712.
You may also want to consider joining the state beekeepers association: https://www.ncbeekeepers.org/membership/join-or-renew-now It is a good resource for more information. The state association has also been assisting beekeepers who lost their apiaries from hurricane Helene.
The Henderson County Beekeepers Association is also starting their annual beginner’s beekeeping class on January 27th: https://hcbeekeepers.org/education/2021-beginner-beekeeper-education-enrollment-2-2-2-2/
It was also time to vote in the local board. All current officers agreed to continue unless someone else in attendance wanted to take over their office. Randy Austin appointed Sheila Holland to continue serving as Treasurer. Carolyn Thompson seconded the vote. All voted in favor. Sheila Holland nominated Priscilla Tinsley as secretary. Mary Caldwell seconded the vote. All voted in favor. Priscilla Tinsley nominated Dean Klingensmith as vice president. Jim Thmpson seconded the vote. All voted in favor. David Knierim appointed Devin Gentry as president. Dean Klingensmith seconded the vote. All voted in favor. Sheila did mention that this would be her last year as treasurer for members to be thinking about serving next year.
Mary Caldwell asked that we create a list of members who would be willing to share their email and/or phone number to volunteer as mentors and/or be available to answer general questions from other members who may run into something unusual going on in their hives. We will work on getting that available for the future.
Members discussed feeding the bees in the winter. It is important not to go into your hives when we have cold temperatures. The temperature should be at least 50 degrees or above. If it is near 50 degrees, you don’t want to spend too much time in the hive. The bees need a lot of food (frames of honey) stored up for the winter. If they are running low and we have an unusual warm winter day, it is best to feed them some kind of dry food such as a bee patty or dry sugar. It isn’t a good idea to feed sugar water in the water because of moisture building up within the hive. Most members in attendance do not insulate their hives in the winter. They leave it up to the bees to keep it warm inside.
David Ellis had attended a northern conference beekeepers meeting. A lot of the beekeepers were experiencing a 30-40% loss in their bees this year mostly due to droughts. David also shared some bee books he had and some Betterbee catalogs. Reading up about bees on these cold, snowy days can help the local beekeeper.
There are several species of honey bees. There isn’t really a way to keep your bees a one species apiary. They fly around to other hives and mix up the species. Members discussed how it is best to have smaller bee yards in several areas rather than one large bee yard due to bears, disease, etc.
Meeting adjourned a little after 8 pm. Please mark your calendars for next month’s meeting (first Tuesday of the month), February 4th at 7 pm, Transylvania Community Services Building, 106 E. Morgan St. Brevard.
bers in attendance do not insulate their hives in the winter. They leave it up to the bees to keep it warm inside.
David Ellis had attended a northern conference beekeepers meeting. A lot of the beekeepers were experiencing a 30-40% loss in their bees this year mostly due to droughts. David also shared some bee books he had and some Betterbee catalogs. Reading up about bees on these cold, snowy days can help the local beekeeper.
There are several species of honey bees. There isn’t really a way to keep your bees a one species apiary. They fly around to other hives and mix up the species. Members discussed how it is best to have smaller bee yards in several areas rather than one large bee yard due to bears, disease, etc.
Meeting adjourned a little after 8 pm. Please mark your calendars for next month’s meeting (first Tuesday of the month), February 4th at 7 pm, Transylvania Community Services Building, 106 E. Morgan St. Brevard.
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